James Bond 007 - Der Hauch des Todes

The Living Daylights is directed by John Glen and adapted to screenplay by Ricahrd Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson from an Ian Fleming story. It stars Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbe, Brad Whitaker, John Rhys-Davies, Joe Don Baker and Art Malik. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Alec Mills.

Bond 15 and 007 is assigned to Bratislava to help in the defection of Soviet General Kosov from the Iron Curtain. But pretty soon Bond is mired in a plot involving arms, opium and assassinations.

With Moore retired the search for a new Bond invariably came down to two names who had been mentioned in Bond circles before, Pierce Brosnan and Timothy Dalton. TV schedules and commitments would play a part and eventually Dalton got the role and eagerly he read up on Fleming's novels to ensure he had a grasp on the beloved Secret Agent. In spite of many misconceptions about Dalton's tenure in the tuxedo, his take was stripped back and closer to Fleming's literary source, his intense acting style ensuring Bond was getting back to the thriller realm.

The Living Daylights is a great Bond movie, mostly devoid of stupid sight gags and cheese laden quips, it sees Bond back to indulging in glorious fist fights, using brains and brawn to achieve his ends, and with Dalton putting the arrogant swagger back into the man, Bond is sexy and dangerous again. The plot is intelligent, operating on three fronts and spanning across the continents, production values are immense, Barry's final score is a knockout, one of his most atmospheric and the title song by Norwegian pop darlings, a-ha, is energy supreme and became a monster chart hit. Glen's action direction is practically peerless, including an excellent pre-credit sequence (where a training exercise turns bloody) and a mano mano fight between Bond and a baddie aboard an in flight cargo plane, the latter of which is a series highlight. Maryam d'Abo is a good Bond girl, making Kara Milovy brave but also sweetly innocent, the pairing of Dalton and d'Abo works very well.

Where the picture mainly falls down is with the villains, who are just too lightweight to amp up the peril within the plot. Krabbe and Baker are far from being bad or even average actors, but they rarely offer a threat to Bond and it's a stretch to imagine they could seriously trouble him. Elsewhere, Robert Brown continues to lack an edge in the role of M and Caroline Bliss steps into the Moneypenny shoes vacated by Lois Maxwell and struggles to make an impact because the script doesn't allow her too. Big crime, too, is having Felix Leiter finally return only for him to be underwritten and performed by a dull actor (John Terry). One misstep in the film 's plotting sees Bond and Milovy escape from danger by using a Cello case as a sledge, it looks daft and feels like it belongs in one of Roger Moore's cartoonish Bond movies. Much has been made of Dalton being uncomfortable saying the quips, and that's right, it does show, but that is a world away from the Bond he wanted to play. I do wonder if this screenplay was tailored towards Brosnan, who was inches away from getting the gig? Or even a holdover from a script written with Moore in mind?

No matter, Dalton ushered in a Bond of class and intensity and the worldwide box office chimed to the tune of over $190 million, nearly $50 million more than Moore's last film, A View to a Kill. Critics were mixed on the film and with Dalton's take on the Bond role, they failed to see it was a new era and that it was an actor refusing (rightly so) to mimic either of the Bond's that went before him. Fleming purists were much happier, and with that box office take proving, so were movie going Bond fans. 8.5/10

I like most of the Bond movie's and i can see positives in all the portrayals of our favourite spy. I enjoyed Moore's first 5 movies (Moonraker got silly, but it was still fun) After seeing Dalton's gritty and reckless take on the Bond character, i remember thinking that he should have replaced Moore before he made 'Octopussy' and 'A View to a Kill'

Dalton's Bond is probably the closest to Fleming's original idea, and it's only the Connery level of charisma that is lacking. The living Daylights is a fine addition to the genre and it's an action packed thrill ride with a gritty edge.

7/10 Nice one Timothy

With Roger Moore's 'retirement' as 007, in the less-than-wonderful A VIEW TO A KILL, Eon Productions began searching for a new James Bond for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. A promising candidate was Sam Neill, 39, popular star of TV's "Reilly: The Ace of Spies" (and future JURASSIC PARK dinosaur expert). But Albert Broccoli didn't like Neill's tests, and announced he wanted Welsh actor Timothy Dalton, whom he'd first approached for the role 16 years earlier. At that time, Dalton had turned down Bond, saying he was "too young". Now 41, both Dalton and Broccoli agreed he was the right age, and his tests were fabulous...but it was then discovered that the shooting schedule for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS would conflict with Dalton's current project, BRENDA STARR, and he, reluctantly, had to pass on the project.

Then an Irish actor, who had become a major television star in America, appeared on the scene. Pierce Brosnan, 34, his "Remington Steele" TV series about to be canceled by NBC, had impressed Broccoli on a visit to the Bond set 5 years earlier, and his tests were so good that he won the role. The script was adjusted, adding more humor (quips were one of Brosnan's strong points), and things were moving along nicely...until NBC, seeing the publicity value of a potential 'James Bond' in a series, renewed "Remington Steele", throwing the entire Bond production into turmoil. The network refused to release Brosnan, and he had to leave.

Fortunately, the delay gave Timothy Dalton time to complete BRENDA STARR, and he began shooting THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS two days after STARR wrapped.

Dalton, an avid fan of Fleming's novels, preferred a harder-edged yet vulnerable Bond, with little or no humor, but screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson had already tailored the script to Brosnan, and Dalton quickly revealed that one-liners were not his strongest asset. He gave, nonetheless, a strong, smoldering performance as 007. As his leading lady, Maryam d'Abo, 26, who'd been 'discovered' while doing 007 candidate screen tests, proved quite good as a blackmailed Czech cellist Bond 'couldn't kill'. The villains, while not 'top drawer' Bond, were effective; Jeroen Krabbé as a defecting Russian general, dancer-turned-actor Andreas Wisniewski as nearly superhuman assassin Necros, and Joe Don Baker, as a 'good ol' boy' megalomaniac U.S. general.

With action around the world, and a complicated plot involving a weapons heist and sale, the story attempted to be more 'topical' by involving the Afghan/Soviet conflict (which, unfortunately, 'dated' it, as well). Bond is monogamous for the first time, and the more 'physical' portrayal of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY had returned, to the delight of Bond purists.

But LETHAL WEAPON would also debut in 1987, and the 'over-the-top' solid action film would cut deeply into THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS profits. The 007 film was considered almost 'quaint' in comparison, and Dalton would unfairly take the 'heat' for the less profitable film.

The world was changing around 007, and no one was quite sure what to do about it...

An underrated film in the series. Timothy Dalton particularly changed the Bond character to make it more faithful to Fleming's books. Instead of being a suave playboy, he's a burnt-out assassin. His Bond is a palpable thread to his enemies and was far more energetic than past actors in the role. This means less philandering and more mission. Unfortunately, the "Bond girl" (Kara Milovy) and the villains didn't have memorable performances. With a better cast, this would've been a possible contender for the best film in the series.

The plot in this movie is different from past Bonds. There's no world domination or global destruction. Rather it's a plot of Soviet defection and people conspiring together to commit treason. It's a welcome change to the formula not knowing exactly what's going to happen next. In the 2nd half, there's a big set piece of Bond on an airplane (in the midst of a war) that's one of the most ambitious action scenes in the series.

Despite not being one of the better known Bond films, it was a very important one for the franchise. It pushed the series toward storytelling, action and established Bond as a more dark gritty character. The later films since then have not turned back.

I have nothing but praise for "The Living Daylights". It's an explosive, action-packed ride from the glorious opening sequence through the ending, maintaining some level of (surprisingly effective) humor which was mostly included because the script was written, or edited, for Pierce Brosnan, who would only finally take over the role in 1995 for "Goldeneye", but largely disposing of the silliness and tackiness of the Moore era, and creating a stealthy, thrilling, effective, and ruthless Bond. Dalton makes a terrific Bond, even competing with Connery for the 'definitive' title as far as movie Bond portrayals go, although Dalton is closer to Fleming's Bond than Connery. After the ultra-suave Roger Moore Bond, Dalton's Bond seems almost mean-spirited in comparison, there may be one-liners, but this guy at least seems fit to be a secret agent.

The action scenes in "The Living Daylights" are all great. I can't think of one which I disliked, and the special effects might be the in the series up to this point. The plot here is actually intriguing, and neither too convoluted or too thin, and keeps you interested from start to finish. The screenplay is terrific, the best in a Bond film since "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Maryam d'Abo makes for a wonderful Bond girl in Kara Milovy, one of the smartest and most likable of all of Bond's 'love' interests. I really like Caroline Bliss' Moneypenny as well. How fresh and exciting this is when compared to the previous entry.

I'm honestly hard pressed to find any serious flaws with "The Living Daylights". Some have said that it takes itself too seriously, but I never felt that it did. Sure, it was much more straight-faced than most Bond films, but a film is only taking itself too seriously when it becomes thoroughly ridiculous while maintaining a 'serious' superficial look. I never thought that "The Living Daylights" did this. It, and the follow-up Dalton film "License to Kill" were both relative financial disappointments, mostly because audiences didn't care for Dalton's hard-edged Bond or the fact that the film had actual characters other than Bond, actual real-world stakes, and no silly villains. Then again, "The Living Daylights" did extremely well in comparison to most films that year, and it earned much more than "A View to a Kill" did, so perhaps it is only the lesser "Licence to Kill" that was a disappointment.

How can you go wrong with a movie this well-shot and well-acted, this well-scripted, and so well-scored by John Barry, which would sadly be his last score for the series? A terrific Bond film with a harder edge than most, and one of the few in the series that remains faithful to the spirit of Fleming's novels. A contender for my favorite Bond film and among my favorite action films overall.

9/10